Sick Dayz
by GirlforGod99
Summary: A look at the life of each Ketchum during a sick day. (Except Misty) Big thanks to Nyislandersgirl for use of her characters. *UPDATED* When Michelle gets really sick, Ash and Misty are forced to relive their worst past time.
1. Chapter 1

** "As she ran outside, Misty could've sworn she had seen Lizzie's eyes, although just for a moment, glowing blue." Elizabeth - 3 1/2 years old. **

**Aiden and Michelle - 8 1/2 years old**

Ash couldn't remember how many times he had told Aiden and Michelle not to go into the woods, too many times to count. After they had went off last Tuesday night, Ash went out to find them, as it rained. He hadn't taken he jacket and now he was paying for it, the flu. Now, as he lay in his bed, he heard the doorknob turn.

Ash sighed as he sat up to see Lizzie coming in again. "Pumpkin, I thought I already told you, I can't play." Ash said as he tried to stiffle the itch in his throat, wanting to come up in another series of coughs. "Please Lizzie. When I'm all better, we can play all you want." He said, as he gently scooted her out of the room with his hand on the girl's back. As soon as she was gone, Ash shut the door, and started a hacking cough that lasted at least a minute.

Ash absolutly hated being sick, it made him feel truly horrible. His back ached, and he couldn't breathe through his nose. His stomach was in knots and his throat was dry and scratchy. All his mustles ached, and he was pretty sure he still had a fever.

As Ash went back to bed, he closed his eyes and tried to relax. Meanwhile, outside the room, Lizzie marched downstairs. In her rage, she scurried around the house until she found Misty. "Mommy, I want to play with daddy." She said in an upset, serious tone.

Misty gasped. She had told Lizzie not to go into their room while Ash was sick. Although at the same time, Misty could understand. All Lizzie wanted to do was to play with her daddy. She bent down to see her daughter eye to eye. "Sweetie, I know you just want to play with daddy, but he's still sick. Why don't we play together instead?"

Lizzie was having none of this. "NO! I WANNA PLAY WITH DADDY!" She yelled. She then ran to Misty's desk and knocked over all the papers, which had been neatly stacked and organized. As she ran outside, Misty could've sworn she had seen Lizzie's eyes, although just for a moment, glowing blue.

As Misty chased after the girl, Lizzie ran to the gym and found Psyduck waddling around, with a dumb look on it's face. "Come on Psyduck, let's hide from mommy." She said as she took the hand of the yellow pokemon and led him to the backyard of the house. Lizzie was smart. She had only went to the gym to distract her mother. Now, she went back and sat on the ground with Psyduck and started to cry.

"I just wanted to play with daddy to make him feel better." She told Psyduck between sobs. Unlike Pikachu, Psyduck didn't have much to say back. Lizzie didn't even bother translating past Psyduck first sentence. _'Running, I'm running.'_

A thing unknown by her family. All her life, even since she could remember, she could understand and translate Pokemon speech. She never knew any different since her father had always been able to understand his Pokemon. Unlike Ash, who had built a relationship with his Pokemon and learned to listen from his heart, Lizzie had a natural ability to understand and translate Pokemon speech. The only one who knew was Pikachu, and Pikachu had no reason to tell Ash, he never asked.

Just then, someone came around to the backyard. Lizzie hadn't heard it, between her cries. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to find, none other, than Gary Oak and Umbreon. She was so upset, she just started to cry into Gary's shirt.

Call it parental instincts, Gary instantly picked up the small girl and held her close to his chest as she cried. He rubbed her back as he tried to comfort her. "Sh...It's all gonna be ok. Everything will be fine. Calm down now." No one ever wanted to admit it, but Gary had softened alot since he had got married and had kids. Gary's smooth and calm voice quickly calmed Lizzie. Umbreon felt very bad for the girl, but just sat by Gary obediantly. Soon after this, Misty came to the backyard.

"Oh, Lizzie. I am so happy I found you." Misty exclaimed, placing her hand across the heart. She then looked at the man holding her daughter. Needless to say, she was surprised to see Gary. "G...Gary?" She took Lizzie from Gary's arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Umbreon and I were bored. Do I need to have a reason to pop in and battle an old rival?" Gary said, a hint of irritation in his voice.

Misty frowned as she sighed and said. "Sorry Gary, I didn't mean it like that. But Ash can't battle today anyway. He's sick with the flu. He hasn't been to work since last Tuesday."

Gary looked slightly disspointed. He then looked up and smiled. "Well, tell Ashy boy to fell better. As for Lizzie, just a suggestion."

"What?" Misty huffed as she set down the now calm three year old, who started to pet and play with Umbreon.

"Well, maybe making a get well card, or some small gift might make her _and _Ash feel better." Gary said.

"You know Gary, that's actually a really good idea. I didn't know you had it in you." Misty told him.

"Hey! That's not funny." Gary protested.

"Are you kidding me, it was hilarious." A voice said. Both Misty and Gary looked behind them, and saw Ash coming towards them.

When Lizzie saw her father, she squealed. "Daddy!" She then ran to hug him. Ash held his hand out, telling her to stop.

"Lizzie." He said as he started to cough. He tried to turn his face away, as not to cough on her. "No, I don't want you to get sick. Stay away from me." Ash instructed her. He felt horrible, telling her to stay away from him. But he wouldn't forgive himself if she got sick because of him.

Lizzie backed up as Umbreon went over to distract the small child. "ASH!" Misty yelped. "Are you gonna get back in bed, or am I going to have to chase you with the mallet?" She asked, anger in her usually delicate eyes.

Ash swallowed in fear, backing away slowly. "No, no, I'm going. I only came down to get food anyway." Ash stammered in fear as Misty sighed. Some things about Ash never changed.

Misty felt bad for Ash, he was having such a miserable day, threatening him might be just mean. Instead, she decided to bribe him. "If you go back to bed now, I'll bring you something really tasty." Misty said as Ash smiled in delight. He went back into the house and rushed up to the bed as he waited in anticipation of his meal. He then subconciously stroaked the yellow mouse, who was sleeping on the bed beside him.

As soon as Gary and Umbreon left, Misty took Lizzie back inside. After setting up her lunch, she called Aiden and Michelle downstairs. They had been grounded, and stuck in their room ever since Tuesday night. They both came down cheerily, happy to be out of their room, which really felt more like a prison.

"Hey mom," Michelle asked in concern. "Is dad feeling any better?" Misty looked at the girl. When she saw the concern in the girl's eyes, she sighed.

"Well, he won't be back to work for a few days, but he'll be fine." Misty said as she handed each twin a plate with a sandwhich, carrot sticks with peanut butter, and chips. She also handed them each a juice box.

"Aw, mom. Do we really have to eat in our room again? We've been stuck in there all day." Aiden whined.

"What do you think Aiden? Mist asked rhetorically. "It's either that, or you can take care of dad." Misty said, handing them each a fresh baked cookie. Now, Aiden hated getting sick, even more than Ash. He dreaded and avoided it like the plague.

"Ok, ok." He said. "We'll eat upstairs. Just don't make me take care of dad, please." He then rushed upstairs, with Michelle was being drug by the arm behind him. Misty then had to think. She promised Ash an extra ordinary meal, and had almost no ingredients.

She had meant to go to the store today, but she had to take care of Lizzie. She also didn't want to leave Aiden and Michelle home alone with Ash. She knew Aiden and Michelle would try to squirm out of their punishment. Well, Aiden at least. She then had to decide what totally special meal she'd make for him, seeing she was supposed to be this with no supplies. She knew Ash might get mad about what she was about to do, but she never broke a promise.

She headed to the videophone. She was calling Delia, Ash's mother. Delia answered fairly quickly. "Oh Misty, it's such a pleasure to hear from you. How are you?"

"I'm fine. But I was wondering? Do you have the ingredients to make a deep dish chili cheese pie?" She asked, trying not to give away the despiration in her voice.

"I believe so, but why do you need it?" Delia asked.

Misty didn't want to tell her, but saw she had no choice. "Ash is sick, and I promised to make him something special." Misty said.

Delia looked immediately worried. "It's not Bairn's or anything else serious, is it?" Misty could hear the obvious worry in Delia's voice.

"No, no it's nothing like that. He's just got the flu, that's all. Aiden and Michelle went off to the back woods on Tuesday. And Ash, went to find them, without a jacket on."

"You can't be serious. It's was raining Meowths and Persians that night. I know Ash can be a little dense sometimes, but..." Delia's voice trailed off. "Anyway, I can have one ready by tonight. Say about fiveish."

"Ok, that'll be great." Misty said as she finished the call. After hanging up, she could hear Ash calling to her.

"Misty..." Ash groaned from the upstairs bedroom. Misty quick rustled up a sandwhich plopped on carrots,chips and poured a mug of OJ. As she came up to the room, Ash looked in anticipation. When she handed him the plate, he looked unimpressed.

"I'm making your food, but you'll have to wait until supper. It takes a long time to make." "Before I forget, here." She handed him a small pack of electric pokemon food. He looked to Pikachu, who was starting to wake up from the smell of Ash's grilled ham and cheese sandwhich.

When Misty left, both Ash and Pikachu ate their lunches. As they were eating, Pikachu turned to Ash. "Pikapi, pikachu Kachu Pi? Pi pikachu pika cha?" Pikachu asked. Ash took a sip of OJ before answering.

"Yeah, Lizzie came in this morning. She wanted to play again. I wish she understood, because it kills me to keep sending her away. But I can't let her in." Ash explained to the electric mouse.

"Pikapi, Pikachu Pi Pi Chu Pika?" Pikachu asked.

"No, you heard right. Gary did come, he wanted to battle. He found poor Lizzie in the backyard crying. Misty said she found him holding her, my poor baby girl. I can't believe how gentle he can be.. But I guess he is a dad now." Ash finished hoarsley as his throat continued to ache.

As Ash gulped down the last sip of OJ, his head was clear enough, he felt he could finally try to sleep. He laid down and closed his eyes as he felt his itching throat again. He tried to resist, but couldn't. He soon started coughing, more like barking. Ok, so he wasn't going to get any deep sleep without medicine.

He reached over to the bedside table and started taking another dose off all the cold and flu relief medicine Misty had set out. He hated taking medicine, mostly because of the taste. It did work, however, and he really needed sleep. So he took what he needed, and soon fell asleep. Unbeknowist to Ash, Misty had popped a sleeping pill in with the other medicine.

After a while, Misty popped in the room. Seeing the small blue sleeping pill gone, she sighed in relief and walked in. She took the thermomedor out of her pocket and placed in Ash's ear. It soon beeped, reading 102.3. He definently was still sick. She went and found a washcloth and wet it; she placed it on his head. He briefly shivered at the cold feeling. He then smiled, clearly enjoying the cool, wet feeling.

She was kinda surprised how hungry he had been, but she figured Ash had been forcing himself to eat. Ever since he got Bairn's again at thirteen years old, and wasn't allowed to eat because he kept throwing up blood, Ash now was very grateful for food. That sickness had taken about fifteen pounds of Ash. Not to mention, he wanted to keep his strengh up.

Misty sat by Ash, holding his cold, clammy hand. "Come on Ash!" She said. "Fight this, you have too." She said, deeply worried about him. Pikachu's ears flicked as Misty suddenly felt her cell phone vibrate. She groaned as she pulled it out of her pocket. She found it was from the gym, she had a challenger. "_Great!_" She thought. "_Now I have to leave ._" She sighed as she got up. She really wasn't in the mood to battle, but she knew she had a job to do.

Misty quickly stopped in the twins room and told them not to go anywhere while she was gone. They nodded, and she quickly left for the gym. As soon as he heard the back door close, Aiden got up and went out of the room. Michelle ran over to him.

"Aiden, we just told mom we wouldn't leave our room." Michelle said. Aiden looked at her with an _'are you serious'_ look.

As the pair went downstairs, Aiden said. "I don't know about you sis, but I've been stuck in that room for the past four days and I'm sick of it." As he grabbed a Moca cola from the fridge and offered it to Michelle, she nodded no and grabbed a root beer out of the fridge instead. Aiden shrugged and popped open the Moca Cola and started to slosh it down.

As Michelle took a sip, the bubbles tickling the back of her throat, she nudged Aiden and he saw what Michelle was looking at. Lizzie, sitting in the living room, was coloring a picture of a magical Ponyta.

Aiden furrowed his brow as he saw the colors his baby sister was using. Instead of using red and orange for Ponyta's mane, she was using pink and purple. She looked up, cheerily. "Hi Denny, Shelly. Aren't you two supposed to be in twouble?" Lizzie said, refering to the two being grounded. Michelle and Aiden stared at each other. Michelle quickly held up the root beer can.

"We just came to get drinks, Liz. Relax." Michelle said, laughing nervously as she showed the young girl he can of soda. Lizzie liked to get Aiden and Michelle in trouble, although she loved the twins to pieces. She figured it was her job to keep her older sibblings in check.

Just then, the three kids heard footsteps coming downstairs. Although to light to be Ash's footsteps, they all knew whose it was. Pikachu. Lizzie quick took the hands of both her sibblings and dragged them to the closet under the stairs, opened the door, shoved them in, and ran back to her coloring. Just in time, luckily, for Pikachu to come down and find Lizzie coloring her picture.

Inside the cramped small closet, Aiden shoved Michelle to try and gain some more space. "Ow! Aiden." Michelle hissed quietly as she fell on her butt. She quickly found the lightswitch and switched it on. Michelle and Aiden quickly got situated as they silently waited for their sister to reopen the closet door.

Pikachu came up to Lizzie, who turned her attention from her drawling and welcomed Pikachu onto her lap. "Pikachu Pikachupi?" Pikachu asked as Lizzie scratched his ear.

"Mommy's at the gym." Lizzie said as the yellow mouse twitched it's ears in graditude. "Since daddy isn't feeling well, I'm coloring him a picture, and giving him some of mommy's chocolate chip cookies."

Pikachu looked at her with a pleading face. "Yes, you can have some too. But after you take this up to daddy." She said as she gave the finished picture and a bag of three cookies to Pikachu, who skipped up the stairs and put the picture and cookies by him on the bed.

Pikachu then came running back down and munched happily on the cookie. Misty always made her Chocolate Chip cookies with Carob. She did this so she could double the cookies as Pokemon treats too.

A soon as Pikachu ate the cookie, he went back upstairs to lie with Ash. Lizzie quickly ran back to the closet and opened the door. Both the twins gasped for fresh air. Michelle coughed. "Bleck, I'm glad to be out of there. It smells like Aiden's feet." She said as Aiden smelled his foot and also coughed at the smelly, pungent odor.

"You're right." Aiden said, chuckling nervously. The two then headed back upstairs, stepping so lightly, so Pikachu wouldn't hear. The next second, unfortunantly Pikachu came out and saw the two going back to their rooms. As he proceeded to go into their room, he found Delia coming up the back stairs.

"Pikachu pika pikapi?" Pikachu said as he looked at Ash's mother. Delia looked at the small mouse and smiled.

"Have you been keeping Ash company, Pikachu?" She asked in her sweet, gentle voice. Pikachu responded cheerfully.

"Pi Pi, Pika!" Pikachu said, in a cheery disposition.

"Good." Delia replied. "Misty told me to come at five, but I just had to check on Ash. Where is Misty, anyway?" Delia asked.

"She's at the gym." Lizzie said, coming up the steps. "She got a last minute challenger." Lizzie informed her grandmother. Approaching Lizzie, Delia gave the girl a hug and kissed her head.

"I've missed you Lizzie." Delia said as Misty came up the steps. Delia turned to Misty. "Honey, I thought you had a gym battle." She said, as Misty smiled.

"No, it was just a delivery man." Misty said, showing Delia the small box. "So anyway, what are you doing here? Didn't we say five?" Misty asked, although not the least bit surprised that her mother-in-law was there an hour and a half early.

"I know dear. But I couldn't help myself. I was so worried. I do miss taking care of him." Delia said, obviously dissapointed in herself.

"Hey. It's ok. It's just a mother instinct. Anyway, I could use use a bit of a break; he's all yours." Misty said camly as she picked Elizabeth up. "Oh, and he's zonked out of sleeping pills." She said, turning back for a moment.

Delia went into the room, walking carefully not to trip over Ash's dirty clothes. She found the thermomedor off the table by his bed and put it in his ear. It soon beeped, this time reading about 100.2. Delia saw all the cold/flu pills and figured the medicine had brought his fever down. She stroked his uneven, cropped bangs out of his face as she took the washcloth on his head and in a few seconds brought it back, the cloth wet again. He didn't shiver as much this time as the cool cloth hit his face. Delia smiled at the boy, as she massaged his head. Her fingers, running softly through his scruffy, ebony hair.

A long while later, opening his eyes slowly, he saw his mom sitting on the chair in the corner of the room. He quickly covered up with his blanket, embarrased at his mom's ability to see all of him. She looked confused, and then sighed. "Ash relax. I'm your mother, I've seen it all before." She said, as he chuckled nervously and sat up.

"Mom, not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?" Ash asked. Delia looked at his son and could see how embarrased he really was.

She sighed and going to his closet, threw a clean outfit onto the bed. As she went out the door, she smiled. "When you're decent, meet me in the kitchen." Delia said, closing the door behind her.

He soon came downstairs, in an old Beatles t-shirt and gray sweatpants, and sat on a chair, by the table. Misty came in and looked at him. "You look a lot better. How do you feel?" Misty asked as she sat across from Ash, who was sitting beside Delia.

"Ok." Ash replied, earning a sypathetic look from Misty. "I feel like I'm strung up on cold medicine, and a sleeping pill." He said, returning Misty's look, with much emphesis on 'sleeping pill'.

Misty shrugged and smiled. "Hey, you're not coughing anymore. Your fever probably went down too." She said as she poured them all a cup of coffee. As Misty sat down by Ash, Michelle came in. Misty turned and looked at Michelle with the death gaze. She quickly went to her dad, who smiled.

"Daddy, I'm so sorry." Michelle apologized as Misty's look of anger faded into a look of pride, concerning her daughter. "It was my idea to go into the forest, I just dragged Aiden along. I was looking for the bracelet I lost last week. You know, when we came home from Hoenn." She looked apologeticly at her father as he smiled again, this time more brilightly.

Suddenly, Pikachu came into the kitchen. Seeing his trainor awake, he hopped onto his shoulder cheerfully. Ash chuckled at his partner's excitment. "I forgive you Shelly. You know, I think I've gotten more sleep in the last four days, than I ever will again." Now, Ash had been told how worried Michelle had been over him. "I'm feeling a lot better too." Ash mentioned on a sidenote. Michelle then walked back upstairs to rejoin her brother.

"Man, what smells so good Misty." Ash said as he licked his lips. "I'm actually really hungry now." Ash said as Delia poured another cup of coffee.

Just then, a buzzer went off. Misty got up from the table and pulled out the rewarmed deep dish chili cheese pie. "Surprise Ash!" Delia said as she sliced the pie into eight pieces. Of course, she gave Ash the biggest piece. Misty called the kids down and they all got to enjoy the special treat.

Aiden and Michelle look at it wearily. But when Aiden saw his father digging into it, he joined right in as he took a big bite. Before Ash could tell him to blow the piece on the fork to let it cool, Aiden yelped. "OW!" He took the half bitten piece back and blew it before enjoying the bite again. He awed at it's amazing flavor. Michelle looked at her brother and dug in too. She, learning from her brother's mistake blew on the small bit before eating. Pretty soon, the whole family had finished the entire pie.

The next day Ash felt good enough to start training a bit. At first, Pikachu had looked unsure of this, wanting to be sure his trainer was recovered. But after a while, getting into it, Pikachu totally forgot his worry. Ash, on the otherhand, was starting to get tired around the second hour of training. As he approached hour three, he decided he'd have enough. Going inside, he crashed on his recliner and turned on the tv.

Now, Ash hadn't felt as bad today, but knew he was still sick. His cough hung on, even though he didn't ache as much. Lizzie, looking around the corner from the doorway to the kitchen, saw her oppertunity to be with her dad.

She snuck in and sat on the far end of the couch. Ash glanced at the girl and turned back to the tv program. Little by little, during the program, Lizzie inched closer and closer to Ash. Eventually Misty came into the room and looked in astonishment. "Ash!" Misty barked as Ash looked at Misty, frightened at her tone.

Misty pointed at the small girl about one foot away from her father. Ash looked back at Misty. "I didn't know Mist. She came in and sat down on the other end of the couch. She must have moved." Ash said as Lizzie was becoming more and more upset. Misty went and proceeded to pick up the small girl.

"Daddy! This isnt fair! " Lizzie squealed in tears as Misty picked up the girl, as she kicked. Ash looked at her, his heart breaking. "Pikachu gets to be with you, why not me!? Don't you love me?" Lizzie's eyes were starting to glow as she tried desperately to reach for her father. She of course, being so upset, didn't notice it, but Ash and Misty did. Being so young, she couldn't control her aura. Doing the only thing she could, Misty handed Lizzie to Ash. Lizzie immediately calmed in her father's arms, as her aura's glow started to fade.

As the small girl opened her eyes, she found herself on her bed wrapped up in her mother's Staru blanket. She had fallen asleep in Ash's arms. Usually she would have complained to take her nap, but with all the upset today, she was just glad she got to be held by her father.

Meanwhile, Ash was in his bedroom, trying to get the scene out of his mind. It was no use though, he just couldn't get it out. "You should have heard her Cass, she thinks I don't love her. She was so upset, her aura was triggered" Ash said as he sat on the bed talking to Cassidy on the videophone.

"Don't be silly Ash! Of course she knows you love her, she's just feeling left out." Cassidy said, trying to console her childhood friend. Although she knew, this whole thing would blow over when Ash recovered, it seemed to really upset him. "As for her aura, just try to keep her unaware."

After the phone call, Ash laid on his bed, his back aching. He was starting to regret training today, maybe it had been to soon. Misty came in and started to massage his back. Ash moaned in satisfaction as Misty rubbed out the man's knots. "Aw... Mist, that feels so good." Misty continued to pull knots out of Ash's back

Just then, Misty heard a knock at the door. "Come in." Misty said as Aiden came in with a round cassarole dish in his hands. He handed it to Misty. Misty looked at him strangely until she saw a small envelope attatched to the aluminum foil. She opened it as she read aloud.

_Dear Ketchums,_

_Please enjoy this lasanga _

_to your heart's content. Feel_

_Better soon Ash!_

_Signed,_

_*Brock* _

"That Brock, always looking out for us." Ash said as his light chuckle became a coughing fit. Aiden ran out of the room as fast as a Rapidash, as Misty got up and examined Ash. She looking at him, investigating every part of his body that was inducing some sort of symptom.

She nodded. "Two days." Misty said as Ash gave her a confused look.

"Two days until what?" Ash asked, trying to figure her out.

"Two days until you're back up on your feet. I'm not gonna let you lay here forever." Misty said, in a persnickety voice.

Two days later, Ash was back on his feet, going to work, and being as active as he was before. As he came home from work that day, he looked at Misty. "How did you do that?"

Misty looked at him and smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Elizabeth - 3 years old**

"Daddy, daddy." Lizzie whispered loudly as she nudged her father in an attempt to wake him up. He hesitated at first, not wanting to leave his dreams, but reluctantly he woke up and turned to Lizzie.

"Pumpkin, what is it?" Ash groaned from his side of the bed. He looked at the clock, three o'clock. Misty, who slept on the other side was undisturbed at Ash's movement around the bed. She was used to it.

"I...um...kinda." She struggled to talk, in fear of being yelled at. She then gulped and finished her sentence. "I kinda, got sick." Ash's eyes immediately shot open as he nudged Misty awake.

"Ashy, it's late. What do you want?" Misty asked, wanting to go back to sleep.

"Mist, we have a situation. Elizabeth got sick." Ash said as Misty's eyes also popped wide open. She immediately sat up. As the small child levitated to her mother, Ash excused himself from the room and went downstairs to call a friend, the only person he knew to be up this early.

_Meanwhile at the Lillydale Gym_

_ "Ring,Ring,Ring,Ring,Ring,Ring Phone call. Ring,Ring." _The phone at the gym rung as Becky slowly went to answer it.

"Hello?" Becky said. She saw Ash's face and sprung to attention. "Ash, how are you? How are the kids?"

Ash fidgeted slightly. " They're fine, well two thirds of them. Hey Becky, I need your help with a problem."

Becky then, with a concerned look on her face responded. "Yeah, I owe you. What's wrong?" Ash explained the sitation as best he could, and when he saw Becky's face relax, he too relaxed, slightly.

"Ok, what you need to do is easy. You need to go to a pharmacy and get Juvenallyte so she doesn't get dehydrated. Also, for the next day or two keep, Elizabeth on the brat diet." She explained quite simply. Misty then came down and saw Becky on the video screen.

"Ash." She hissed. "It's three in the morning. Why are you waking Becky up?!"

"Misty, it's ok. I have to be up soon anyway." Becky explained. As she saw Ash writing this all down, she continued. "The brat in brat diet stands for bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. These are the easiest things for the body to digest, and can help when a child has the stomach flu. If she doesn't like toast, plain crackers work too." Becky finished. "Now, would it be ok if I ask Elizabeth a few questions?"

"Um, sure." Misty said as she went upstairs to get the small child. Ash turned his head towards the video screen.

"Thanks Becky, I really appreciate this. Anyway, how's your summer going?" Ash asked casually.

"It's going pretty well. I love having a job that doesn't require year round effort. You know, except planning for the next school year. My mom's coming back from the Bahamas pretty soon. I'm so excited, I haven't seen her in over two months." Becky said as she and Ash caught up.

Misty then came down with Elizabeth, and Ash lifted Lizzie and sat her on his lap. Lizzie looked a bit shy at the face of a stranger, but as Becky started to ask questions, she settled down.

"Hey sweetie, I just want to ask you a few questions. Where does your tummy hurt?" Becky asked the young girl. Lizzie quickly pointed out where the pain was. "Ok, that's where your stomach is. Ok, imagine if your mommy was cooking a big meal. How would that make you feel?" Lizzie quickly held her stomach and her face turned greenish. "Alright, that's quite clear. Finally, are you really tired?" Of course Lizzie responded that she was very tired.

Becky didn't look at all surprised. As Misty carried the small girl back upstairs, Ash looked at Becky. "Is she ok?" Ash asked, fear twinging in his voice.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. It looks like the stomach flu to me. Probably just the 24 hr. stomach flu at that. For now, make sure she drinks, and keep her in bed. If she gets a high fever though, call the doctor." Becky finished.

"Ok, thanks Becky. Sorry for waking you up." Ash said.

"Oh, it's fine. I have to drive Benji to his soccer game in about four hours. Maybe I can get some cleaning done before the rest of the family wakes up. I'll see you later Ash." She said, wide awake.

"Bye Becky. Oh, and tell Benji I'm rooting for him." Ash said as he hung up the phone.

Ash immediately drove to the 24/7 pharmacy at the other end of town. He came back about two hours later, his arms stuffed with supplies. Along with going to the pharmacy, he stopped at Mal-Mart and got the food Becky told him too. As Ash came inside, he found Lizzie in Misty's arms on the couch across from the TV.

"Alright Lizzie." Ash said as he popped open the Juvinallyte. "I got your favorite flavor, cherry. Just take a small sip." Lizzie didn't look so sure. She was like Ash, she hated medicine. This was pretty close. Ash knew what he had to do. He took a small sip of the liquid, and smiled. "Lizzie, this is actually really tasty. Here, try some."

Misty gave the girl a new bottle; Ash had gulped down the one bottle in under three seconds. Her stomach felt a little better since throwing up, so she took a small sip. "Yummy!" She said as she tried to douse the whole bottle.

Misty took the bottle from her and placed it on the table beside them. "You can have a little more later, now try to get some sleep." Misty said as she tucked the small girl on the couch, not forgetting to leave a plastic bag lined bucket by the couch. By this time it was almost six o'clock, and Misty got up and hugged Ash. The two went to the kitchen and sat down. "I'm worried. She's never been this sick before."

"Don't worry Mist, Becky said if she gets a high fever, then go to the doctor. Remember, her mom is a nurse and has been one for almost twenty years. Lizzie will be fine." Ash said, trying to console his wife.

Misty looked at Ash and sighed. "I guess we have no choice. I just wish there was someone who could watch her while I'm at the gym tomorrow." Misty said, pacing around the kitchen.

"Fa fym?" Ash said, well tried to say while cramming a whole cupcake in his mouth. Misty turned to her husband and gave a disappointed sigh.

"Honey, please. Manners matter." Misty said, as Ash took a big swig of milk to help swallow the cupcake.

"Remember Ash, the gym has to be inspected Saturday morning. I can't stay with Lizzie. I have to clean and prepare the gym."

"Oh yeah. I forgot." Ash thought for a moment about who could watch Lizzie. Aiden and Michelle would be at Day camp all this week. His mother was away on vacation. It than hit him. "Brock!"

"Brock?" Misty asked.

"Yeah. With him working at the Pokemon center on night shift this week, it would be perfect! I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Ash said as he went to the videophone. Brock answered rather quickly.

"Hello?" Brock answered sleepily. The man on the other end looked disheveled and tired. "Oh, hey Ash."

"Hey Brock-o. Did I wake you up?"

"What, no. Well, yes. But that's ok. What'ya need? Brock asked, rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"How do you know I needed something?" Ash asked.

"You don't call at six thirty in the morning to talk about sports, Ash." Brock huffed, wishing Ash would get to the point.

"Lizzie's sick and Misty has to be at the gym to get it ready for inspection. And I can't call off unless I'm sick. What do you say Brock, please?" Ash said, almost begging.

"Yeah. Sure, I'll be there at 8:00 sharp." Brock said, finally more awake. "Should I bring anything. Some Juvinallyte, or anything."

"Nah, I talked to Becky. She gave me a whole list of instructions. I went out and bought everything." Ash said. "I'll see you at eight, I guess."

"K, bye." Brock said as he hung the phone up.

As Ash was about to leave for work, he heard the doorbell. He opened the door as Brock came in and saw Lizzie sleeping . "Thank you so much Brock, especially coming on short notice. The twin's ride should be here in an hour, they're just eating breakfast. Make sure Aiden remembers his lunch. Thanks again Brock!" Ash looked at his watch and gasped. "I have to go. Bye." With that, Ash and Pikachu were out the door.

Brock advanced into the kitchen and saw the kids eating cereal. _"It must have been Ash's morning to cook." _Brock thought to himself. Michelle turned around; Seeing Brock, she smiled. "Morning Brock. Do you think maybe you could make us some eggs. No offense to dad, but he doesn't know a whisk from a potato masher." Michelle said, as Aiden nodded in agreement with her sister.

"Sure. Scrambled, right." Brock said as the twins nodded. As soon as the eggs were cooked and plated, Brock brought over to plates to the twins as Brock heard Elizabeth coming to the kitchen, Teddi in hand. "Hey sweetie, how're you feeling?" Elizabeth definitely looked sick. Her face was flushed, she was sweating, and her cheeks were bright red.

There weren't too many times that Lizzie didn't talk. Today was one of those unoften days. She gave Brock two thumbs down. "Yucky." She said, shivering from the open Pokepet door that hung in the back door. Michelle saw Lizzie's discomfort and immediately got up and locked the Pokepet door, preventing anymore cold air from coming in.

Brock sighed and carried the child back into the living room and put on a Bulbasaur's Garden video as she took a small sip from the Juvinallyte. Brock felt the girl's forehead. Seeing she had a low fever, he got the Tylenol from the bathroom cabinet and gave Elizabeth a dose.

After cleaning up the few dishes from the twin's breakfast, Brock sat down on the living room recliner and started to reading the book he brought. It was called, _Attracting Girls Without Scaring Them_.

Lizzie slept for about two hours before waking up and running to the bathroom to puke. Brock was not at all disgusted at all. He had nine brothers and sisters, and took care of them too much to be disgusted about anything anymore. He just got up from the recliner and walked to the bathroom and calmly started to rub the young girl's back.

Afterwards, Lizzie was very upset. Besides feeling just plain sick, she was embarrassed at throwing up in front of someone. "I'm so sowry Bwock" She squeaked as she started crying into the man's chest. They sat there for a while before Brock took the small girl's hand and led her back to the couch.

"Lizzie, there's no reason to be be embarrassed. You can't help it." Brock said softly, laying the girl back down as he pulled up her covers. "Now, I'm gonna get some ice for that Juvinallyte, so you can drink it cold." Brock took the plastic bottle and went to the kitchen and filling the sippy cup with ice and pouring in the juice. Lizzie used an open cup most of the time, but loved her sippy cup for bedtime. Brock figured Lizzie wouldn't mind; plus he didn't want any juice to spill on Misty's carpet.

After a sip of the juice, Lizzie watched some cartoons before falling back asleep. With Lizzie asleep, Brock decided to clean up the house for Misty. He started by cleaning Ash and Misty's room. Putting clothes in the washes, picking up trash, and so on and so forth.

Walking into the twin's room, he laughed. Michelle's side of the room was totally neat, just like Misty. Misty didn't like things being dirty. Aiden's side however, looked just like Ash's room when he was young. Ash had gotten better over the years, but at heart he was still a slob. Brock sighed and finished cleaning the whole room in just a half an hour.

After cleaning up the upstairs bathroom, and the play room, he vacumed the whole upstairs. Lizzie hadn't even woken up when Brock came back downstairs. Knowing she had to eat though, he woke her up. She stretched as she woke up. Of course, she wasn't hungry, but Brock insisted she try to eat a little.

He handed her the small cup of applesauce. Taking the first bite, she swore it was the best thing she ever had tasted. Although, maybe it was just because she was so hungry. Nevertheless, she ate a few bites. Brock stopped her just for a minute to see how her stomach would react. When she said she felt ok, Brock let her finish the small cup of applesauce.

Misty came home to a sparkling house an hour later. She just smiled at Brock, knowing the man had cleaned everything up. Misty checked on Lizzie, who was awake now. The mild fever from the morning was gone, and she wasn't quite as pale. Misty was really happy to hear she had been able to stomach some food. "Thank you so much Brock. You don't know how much this means to us." Misty said, hugging her good friend.

"No problem Misty. I better get home and sleep before the shift tonight. Feel better sweetie." Brock said, looking at Lizzie who smiled sweetly.

That evening, all three children waited at the window for their father to come home. Elizabeth though, starting to feel a bit woozy slowly walked back to the couch. Misty saw the girl's quick decision to go back to the couch. Seeing the girl wobbling a bit, she ran and helped Elizabeth to the couch. "Are you ok sprinkle?" Misty asked, still quite concerned about her.

"Yeah. I'm ok now mommy." Lizzie said, laying back down. But Misty still wasn't convinced. Heading the the videophone, Misty called Becky. Meanwhile, at the gym Benji ran and answered the phone.

"Hi Benji" Misty kindly greeted the boy as Becky nudged her son as she took the phone from him. "Becky, I'm glad you're there. Hey is it normal for Lizzie to get a bit dizzy when up?"

"Yea, definitely. I suppose she way laying down most of the day?" Becky asked as Misty nodded. "Then it's fine. Her body's still fighting off that stomach flu, so a little bit of dizziness is totally normal." Misty instantly looked relieved. "Try not to worry Misty, she'll be fine in a day or two. Then she can start eating normally again."

"Thanks Becky." Misty said as she heard Ash coming up the driveway. "See you later." Misty hung up the phone and went to the kitchen and put dinner on the table. The children squealed as Ash came in and hugged the twins. The children were extra excited as Ash also had a gift bag in his hands. Although they looked a bit disappointed as Ash made his way to the couch.

He knelt down by the couch and handed Lizzie the gift bag. Lizzie ripped the paper out of the bag, she found the first gift. It was a small sweater. The young girl looked a bit confused. "It's for Teddi, pumpkin." Ash said putting the small sweater onto Teddi. As Lizzie went back to the bag he pulled out the large box. It had a picture of pink roller skates on the front. Misty looked at Ash, slightly confused. " They're grow with me skates. As Lizzie's feet grow, we can adjust the skates "

"Thank you so much daddy!" Lizzie said, as she went to put on the skates. Misty went over and took the box before she could open it. "Come on mommy!" She whined as Misty put the skates in the closet.

"When you're all better, I promise that daddy and I will teach you to skate." Misty said coming back to the couch. "Now, after dinner, how about a nice, warm bath." The young girl's eyes lighted up. She loved taking baths, unlike the twins at her age.

The next day, little by little, she started to eat again. For breakfast, Misty served the girl a banana and toast. As Brock kept an eye on the girl that day, she seemed to be back to her herself, mostly.

After playing two hours of Candy Valley, the girl fell asleep mid turn. Brock smiled and carried the girl to the couch. Luckily, she spent the rest of the day sleeping. By the time evening came around, she felt well enough to play with Pikachu when Ash came home.

Looking at Pikachu and Elizabeth playing together, Misty smiled. When Lizzie then started to dress Pikachu up as a doll again, Misty knew she was fine.

The End


	3. Chapter 3

**As Ash finds himself ready to conquer the day, he finds his partner doesn't feel the same way.**

**Lizzie - 13 yrs. old**

"Time to wake up Pikachu." Ash said softly, being bent by Pikachu's favorite place to sleep. Pikachu groaned and looked at Ash. He knew Ash's day off. Ash's voice today, pounded in his head like a bass drum. He didn't want to get up, the small yellow mouse was just so tired today.

"Pi Pikachu Pikapi." He said wearily, stuffing his head back into the soft fabric of the Pokémon bed. Ash looked at him a bit strangely, he usually got up before Ash did. Although Ash usually wasn't up at six thirty on his day off either, so Ash got up and ate breakfast.

While eating, Ash kept hearing a weird sound. "Ka, ka, ka, chu." Ash went in to see Pikachu sneezing his head off, cheeks emitting blue sparks everywhere. The small mouse, then plopped back into his bed, looking exhausted. Ash ran over to the small Pokémon. Finding him flushed and having a red nose, he sighed.

"Pikachu, why didn't you tell me you were sick." Ash sighed as he grabbed a pair of blue rubber gloves from by the kitchen sink. He went back to Pikachu and picked him up. "It's probably just a cold, but let's get you to the Pokémon Center, just in case."

From upstairs, Ash heard Lizzie coming downstairs. "Morning Pumpkin." The girl stared at her father, smiling sweetly at first. She then sensed a problem.

"Hey dad, why are you carrying Pikachu?" Lizzie asked, still unclear of the situation. She then started to chuckle. "You didn't get your shoulders stun by a Beedrill again, did you?"

"No." Ash blushed at the recollection of the unfortunate event. Pikachu hadn't been able to ride on either of Ash's shoulders for about two weeks. Ash had been going for a jog when he slammed into a tree. If that hadn't been painful enough, a swarm of Beedrill came out and started chasing him, stinging both of his shoulders and his bottom lip.

"Mommy laughed at you for a week after that." Lizzie said, degrading Ash's ego even more. Ash looked at his feet, avoiding his daughter's laughing.

Regaining his composure, Ash lifted his head. "No Lizzie, Pikachu's sick. I'm taking him to the Pokémon Center." Ash said, grabbing his jacket from the hook.

"Dad, why don't you just wait 'till Brock and Brianna pick me up? Remember, it's Guacamole Tuesday" Lizzie reminded her father. Ash look at her and gave a sad smile. His children never knew how out of control Pikachu could be when he got sick.

"I don't think I can Lizzie." Ash said. "I really want Pikachu to be looked at now. Just to make sure it's nothing serious. But, you can come with me if you want." Ash offered.

"No thanks dad. I would, but mom and I have a lot of training to do." Lizzie said, smiling. She gave her father a small kiss on the cheek before leaving to meet her mom at the gym. Ash thought about how shocked he was when Lizzie gave him the big news. He was shocked, to say the least. He was proud of the girl. Although, Ash realized Misty wouldn't be ready to train for about three more hours. With a shrug of his shoulders, he went out to the car.

Finding a rubber tarp in the garage, Ash placed it in the small plastic cage. He laid Pikachu inside the small rubber cage and set it on the front seat. He knew Pikachu hated to be confined in any way, but he had no choice. He couldn't have his whole car explode because of Pikachu's trapped electricity.

Surprisingly, Pikachu slept the whole ride to the Pokémon center. Ash came into the Pokémon center and waited his turn to get Pikachu examined. Being the Pokémon master, he had full right to get his Pokémon examined before everyone else, but he didn't like abusing his position like that.

Nurse Joy was really busy today, but she was also good at moving the line of trainers along. Soon, Ash heard the door into the Pokémon center open. Ash groaned at who was revealed, Paul. After dropping Pikachu off with Nurse Joy, Ash went and sat in the Pokémon Center's lounge. He hoped Paul wouldn't find him there.

But when he saw the purple haired man enter the lounge, Ash grunted in a frustrated tone. Of course, Paul turned his head and his eyes locked with Ash's. Despite the jerk Paul truly was, he gave a polite greeting. "Hey Paul, long time no see." Ash said, waiting for Paul's inevitable disrespectful reply.

Ash was shocked when the man just sat in a chair, face buried in his hands. He could hear Paul cursing and almost sobbing to himself. Ash approached this new behavior of Paul's cautiously. "Paul, what is it?" He asked, not expecting an answer. Ash sighed and started to walk away when Paul lifted his head.

Almost whispering, he said. "Torterra's dying." Ash stopped dead in his tracks. For one thing, he was surprised Paul even cared. Looking at the abuse Chimchar had went through, Ash thought the man had no soul. Actually, he was pretty sure of it.

But this revelation must've upset him for some reason. Ash thought back to his days in Sinnoh. When he remembered, his face fell. First, it was Paul's first Pokémon. It all made sense. Within all that cruelness, Paul really did love Torterra. Ash stopped for a second. Was he actually starting to fell sorry for the same guy who abused, underfed, and mistreated Pokémon?

Apparently Ash did care. He found himself five minutes later in a conversation with Paul about Jake. Ash was trying to keep Paul's mind off the unfortunate event occurring. Ash was surprised. Even though Paul was usually as hard as a brick wall, when he was talking about his son, Ash detected a small sense of pride in the man's voice. Although Paul wouldn't let on to that.

Just then, Nurse Joy came into the lounge and looked at Paul, and nodded with a sad look. "I'm sorry Paul, I did everything I could. Torterra only has a few more minutes left, do you want to come say goodbye?"

The Paul Ash had been talking to just a minute ago, now looked angry. "_Good old Paul._" Paul stood up to leave the lounge muttered angrily, but Ash heard a tone of sadness in his voice too. He then turned back to Nurse Joy. "No, I don't think I can do that. But could you end it quickly? I don't want him to suffer anymore." Paul said, leaving the Pokémon Center.

Nurse Joy sighed and looked at Ash with a soft sigh. "I hate this part of my job." Nurse Joy said as she back to the critical care center. Ash went out and looked through the window that showed Torterra. Meanwhile, Nurse Joy filled a small needle with a clear liquid. Ash looked and saw the insufferable pain Torterra was going through.

Although Ash wasn't a fan of putting Pokémon down. Though if the choice is between that or more agonizing pain for the Pokémon, Ash always thought it was for the best. He couldn't stand to watch a Pokémon suffer in such great pain.

Ash waited another hour until Nurse Joy came out, Pikachu on her shoulder. "Pikapi!" Pikachu squeaked as he jumped back onto Ash's shoulder. He still looked sick, but he wasn't sparking. Nurse Joy then handed Ash a small box that read "Poke'rale".

"Give two to Pikachu tomorrow then one a day for six more days." Nurse Joy told the Pokémon Master. "It's nothing more than a mild case of the flu, nothing serious. The medicine is an anti-viral medicine. It'll keep the flu from getting any worse. By the end of the week, most of the symptoms will be gone." Nurse Joy explained. "I've removed any excess electricity from Pikachu's body. But it probably isn't a good idea to have Pikachu battle at all until the follow-up in two weeks."

Ash looked at Pikachu and smiled. "We'll get you fixed up buddy." In light of what had happened today, Ash was truly grateful for Pikachu.


	4. Chapter 4

**When Aiden comes down with Croup, Aiden blames Pikachu.**

**Aiden and Michelle - 8**

**Elizabeth - 3 **

Finally, the day had come. The day of the Sinnoh festival. It was all set. Dawn was picking the kids up in one hour. Aiden had waited for this day all year. He was finally going to Sinnoh's yearly festival. He could picture it all now. Rides, games, food, and Pokémon. Lots and lots of new, exciting Pokémon. He'd be even more excited if he didn't feel so crumby.

Meanwhile, Pikachu was busy, minding his own business when a barking came from the twins' room. He ran outside the room to see if he could hear it again. After a moment, he heard the bark again. No one was gonna hurt his family and get away with it. He charged into the twin's bedroom and thundershocked the first thing he saw. Too bad that first thing was Michelle.

"Pikachu!" Michelle snapped in an irritated voice. The paper in the girl's hand disintegrated onto the floor. Pikachu was utterly confused. "Shock Aiden, he's the one who sounds like a Rapidash!" The girl growled as she left the room, off the rewrite her letter.

"Pipika?" The electric mouth questioned as he jumped up to the top bunk, where Aiden was laying. Then, as Aiden covered his mouth with his forearm, Pikachu heard that barking again. It was Aiden. The boy felt hot to Pikachu's touch, and by his bed were a pile of used tissues. Pikachu knew this wasn't good.

As Aiden sat up, Pikachu moved closer to his feet. The young boy waved hi to Pikachu. "I can't talk." He whispered, pointing to his throat. As Pikachu watched the boy get up, the barking continued. Pikachu couldn't leave this be anymore.

The mouse ran down the back steps, finding Ash at the table, enjoying a batch of Misty's pancake. Ash looked and saw Pikachu. "Hey Pikachu, have you seen Aiden this morning?" Ash asked, as Pikachu saw the rest of the family at the table eating.

"Pikapi! Pikachu pika Pipika kachu pika!" Pikachu said franticly, waving his arms about. Poor Elizabeth was sitting there, understanding every word, yet she couldn't make a move. Her dad could talk and understand Pikachu. Somehow though, she knew, keeping her ability a secret was essential.

"What!" Ash said worried. He got up, along with Misty headed to the boy's room. Not even half way there, Ash could hear the barking coughs of Aiden. Oddly enough, Aiden wasn't in his room. He found Aiden in the bathroom, brushing his teeth, well trying to anyway. Every five seconds, the boy had to cough, smearing toothpaste in the forearm of his pjs.

"Morning champ!" Ash cheered, standing in the doorway. Aiden turned around startled. He put down the brush and ran out between Ash's right side and arm. Misty, however caught the boy trying to hightail it downstairs. Ash came out to where Misty had caught to the boy, who was still fighting the capture. "You aren't even going to say good morning to your own father?" Ash asked as Misty seemed to be irritated by Ash's teasing the boy, but let it go.

Aiden shook his head. "Nope." He said, sounding like a broken record. He instantly put his hand to his mouth, in shock of how bad he actually sounded. Misty gasped as Ash stepped forward to the boy, who now wasn't struggling as much, and felt his forehead.

"Sorry, back to bed champ." Ash told the boy who sighed as he left his mother's arms and headed back to bed.

Pikachu, who was in the hallway looked at Aiden worried. Aiden gave Pikachu the death glare. "Thanks Pikachu, not!" Aiden said, the only understandable thing he had said all day. Aiden went to his room, and slammed the door. Misty winced at the force of her son's slam.

Aiden then formulated a plan. Dawn was still coming to pick his sisters up. As long as he could get out of the house unseen, he could go to the festival. He knew what he had to do, and it was drastic! He ran to his sister's closet and shuffled through all the neatness until he found it. He shivered, looking at the fowl piece of fabric.

He usually wouldn't stoop so low, but he was desperate. Getting the least disgusting one he could, he ran to the bathroom and put it on. In the bathroom closet was the final piece of the disguise. Having short hair definitely made it easier to put the disguise on. He was now in a blue satin dress and a blondish red haired wig. Arcues knows why his mom had a wig, but he wasn't about to complain.

Checking to see if the coast was clear, he ran downstairs and tiptoed out the door. But what was Michelle going to say when she saw him in a wig and dress? He looked at himself in the puddle still present from the rain last night. He kinda looked like his cousin, Dakota in this outfit. So that's who he was going to be today.

Dawn pulled up about ten minutes later. The girls ran to the van, and hopped in the back, buckling their seatbelts. Aiden started to move towards the van when he heard a loud yell from his bedroom window. "Aiden Nash Ketchum! You get back in this house right this minute!" Ash yelled. When Ash saw Aiden, he chuckled, slightly amused how far Aiden went to go to the festival.

As Aiden ran to the van hoping to make a futile effort to escape, Michelle closed the van door and locked it. He slowly tramped back into the house as Misty, who looked more angry then concerned met him at the door. "Aiden, what did you think you were doing!? Even if you succeeded, Dawn, your sisters, not to mention everyone else at the festival could've gotten sick!" Misty lectured in a loud voice. Ash came downstairs and laid his hand on Misty's shoulder, causing her to stop shouting as Aiden ran upstairs to his room and slammed the door, once again. Aiden fell into tears, which the boy didn't do much. He was so disappointed and angry, besides feeling just plain sick. After all he went through, trying to go, he was caught.

He looked at the dress he still wore, ripping it off and putting his pj's back on. Today was officially ruined, totally and utterly ruined. Ripping the wig off in the same fashion, he crawled back onto his bed, and just sobbed. He didn't care if he ever saw Pikachu again, the numskulled tattletale. Just then, he heard a knocking on his door.

Knowing Aiden didn't have much voice, Ash stepped in slowly. The man looked up, and seeing Aiden in tears, rubbed the boy's back in sympathy. "I know you can't talk, so just listen." Ash said, in a calm voice, hoping to soothe the boy. "I know how long you've been waiting for this festival. And I know how disappointed you must feel. The point is, you wouldn't have been able to have much fun anyway, being sick. " Ash said.

Aiden had stopped crying the notepad and pencil from the end of his bed, he wrote a message. Ash received the tablet back, containing his son's angry words. _"Well, I don't get to enjoy it at all, thanks to Pikachu!"_

"Come on now champ, you know that's not fair." Ash said as he gave the boy back his tablet. "Pikachu's just looking after you, just like with the rest of us." Ash then jumped back down to the floor, from the boy's ladder. Walking out, Ash smiled and closed the door, giving Aiden time to think.

Aiden, figuring he had time to spare, went and sat at his desk. Taking out his history folder, finished his homework. Having the Pokémon master as a father, Michelle and Aiden had an amazing tutor. Miss Hailey, a certified teacher, came to the house, once every six months to check on the twin's progress. She also, if needed, came by request of the parents.

Otherwise, Ash and Misty taught them. Ash, being Ash handled only gym. Misty handled reading, history, writing, and math. Aiden and Michelle also went to Professor Oak's once every other week for Pokémon Sciences.

Aiden was really good at history, not so much at math and reading. That being said, Aiden quickly finished the work, glad it was out of the way.

Misty, a bowl of hot soup in her hands, turned the knob of Aiden's bedroom. Seeing her son at his desk, she put the bowl of soup on the side table and looked over Aiden's shoulder. "What'ya up to Aiden?" Misty asked.

"Work." Aiden said in a horsed whisper before turning his head away from his mother to bark into his elbow.

This riled Misty up with worry. Pushing the papers out of the way, she put the soup in front of Aiden. Just then, Ash came in, carrying the cold air humidifier, stumbled in and placed it in the corner of the room. After plugging it in, Pikachu was looking for Ash and skipped into the room.

Aiden grabbed a paper from his desk. Grabbing his pencil, he wrote: _GET PIKACHU OUT! IT'S ALL HIS FAULT!_ In truth, Ash couldn't blame Aiden. But this was getting ridiculous. Ash didn't get angry too often, but having his son criticize Pikachu was just like mocking him.

As Misty layed out a tray of some medicine to keep Aiden as comfortable as she could, Ash entered the kitchen and sat at the kitchen table, his head buried in his hands. Misty saw the man and came over, instinctively feeling his forehead.

Ash brushed her hand away. "I'm not sick Mist, I'm frustrated." Ash said gruffly. Misty put her hand back and sat down by him. "I love Aiden, but why is he being so nasty to Pikachu?"

Misty sighed. She should've figured the problem. Usually, Aiden was head over heals for any Pokémon, especially Pikachu. "He's just angry. He thinks Pikachu kept him from the festival. Plus, I read online that Croup, which it looks like he has, makes some kids really irritable." Misty said, as Ash lifted his head and gave Misty a small kiss.

"I know he's just upset. It's just, that really hurts my feelings too." Ash said, a frown appearing on the Pokémon Master's face. Misty flashed a sympathetic smile.

"Would it help if I talked to him."

"Could you?"

"Sure Ashy. No worries, I'll straighten it out." Misty said as she stole one more kiss from Ash. Misty finished the tray and took it up and knocked on the boy's door. She slowly came in, finding Aiden asleep at his desk. Clearing the empty soup bowl from his desk, he woke him up gently. "Aiden, sweetie, wake up." She gently rubbed his shoulder, his head resting on his hands.

"Mmm..." Aiden groaned as he woke up, lifting his head up to see his mother. He saw the tray of medicine and started to winge at the sight of it.

"Come on Aiden, take it all. Don't be squeamish like your father." Misty said, giving the boy a serious look. Aiden took all the medicine on the tray, which had to be at least five kinds of medicine. He couldn't have done it without the can of Moca Cola that Misty had cleverly set out on the tray. As bad as Aiden was at taking medicine, Ash was 10x worse. The man would've gladly gargled acid, rather than take medicine.

Misty smiled at the empty tray. "Aiden, can we talk?" Misty asked. She then instantly realized that was a stupid way of phrasing it. "Can I talk to you?" Aiden nodded, putting his can of soda down. "You're father is really upset." Aiden looked confused, using his tablet to write down his question. _"Why?"_

"You know dad loves us very much." Misty started, as Aiden nodded. "Well, he also shares a large amount of love for Pikachu. The two are inseparable. Anyway," Misty said, trying to get to the point. "Dad's upset because of your attitude towards Pikachu."

Aiden, once again, wrote on his tablet. _"I didn't mean to make dad upset. I'm sorry. I just REALLY wanted to go to the festival. I know Pikachu was just looking after me. Do you think dad will ever forgive me?" _Misty smiled, as she read the tablet.

"Of course so honey. Your father loves you very much. But how about talking to Pikachu first, huh?" Misty suggested, not exactly sure how Aiden was going to do that. "He's in our bedroom." Aiden nodded and got up and walked to his parent's bedroom.

Pikachu flicked his ears as Aiden came in, although the small electric type was asleep. He came up onto the bed, and started to pet Pikachu, slowly waking him up. Pikachu looked up. Seeing the boy, he frowned, afraid of being scolded again. "Sorry." Aiden said. Although his throat was still in pain, he managed to get the word out, without a croak from his throat. Pikachu, feeling relieved jumped onto the boy's shoulder, nudging the boy's cheek.

Aiden then carried Pikachu down to his dad and put Pikachu into his lap. That wasn't enough to get Ash's attention, which was stuck on a Pokémon battle on TV. "Sorry dad." Aiden said, this time his voice horsed and course.

"It's ok, champ." Ash said, as he ruffled the boy's hair. "I know you were just angry. Now, you wanna watch the next battle with me?" Aiden nodded as he took the quilt off his dad's recliner and covered up with it as he stretched himself out on the couch.

Later that evening, Michelle and Lizzie ran in the door, still pumped from the festival. Ash picked out the small girl, who was licking a green Tertwig lollypop. "How was the festival sweetie?" The small girl looked up at her father with her gorgeous green eyes, that as Ash looked more carefully was the same exact shade as the lollypop.

"It was so much fun!" Lizzie squealed in delight. Just then, Dawn and Piplup came inside the open door. Ash looked at the blue haired women, who was obviously worn out. Ash went up and gave the girl a hug.

"Thanks so much Dawn. I see the kids had fun, but what about you?" Ash asked as Misty came into the living room, where Ash and Dawn were now sitting. Meanwhile, Aiden came down and found his sisters talking about the festival in the kitchen. He came into the kitchen, and sat down by his sisters at the table and just listened to all their adventures today.

Piplup, getting bored of the adults conversation went into the kitchen. Finding Pikachu sleeping in the corner, Piplup went over and used peck attack on him. "Pip, piplup, lup, lup." Piplup squealed as he hammered at Pikachu. He wanted Pikachu awake now.

Lizzie looked at Piplup. "Piplup, you might not wanna..." _Zzzzzzap! _The girl's suggestion was interupted by Pikachu's thunderbolt, that made the whole room spark. All three adults ran in at the sound of the attacks. Ash ran over to his kids and held them in fright.

"No need to worry Ash! I think this was all Piplup's doing." Dawn said as she looked at Piplup with suspicious eyes. "Piplup! Don't you have something to say to Pikachu." The penguin Pokémon, who was especially stubborn looked away from Pikachu, arms crossed. "Piplup!" Dawn now said in a fierce voice.

Piplup reluctantly turned around and apologized to Pikachu, who was now rubbing his sore side. Ash, feeling relieved, let go of his kids as Misty went and picked up Pikachu. She rubbed the place where Pikachu now, had a bruise. Soon, Dawn and Piplup left for the long drive back to Hoenn.

That night, the whole family sat down for supper together. Aiden watched his sisters talk about their exciting day. The solidarity of the girls excitement about the past day made Aiden's stomach turn. He couldn't stand it.

He stood up, and Pikachu, who had already eaten, followed him. "I'm going on a walk." Aiden told his parents. Although he was still sick, Ash knew he'd be safe with Pikachu. Misty stood up to stop him, but Ash layed his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "He needs to be able to work it out on his own." Ash said as Misty reluctantly sat back down at the table.

At first Aiden walked, but then thinking of how angry he was, he started to run. Pikachu struggled to keep up. Aiden didn't even know where he was running too, but he just kept on running. He finally stopped, not because he wanted too, but because of the small raccoon-like Pokémon he saw.

He was running scared as he jumped into Aiden's arms in fright. Aiden did his best to soothe the baby Pokémon as the things who were him appeared. Aiden looked and saw about twenty Beedrilll coming up. Pikachu stood in front of the boy, and after three powerful thundershocks, the whole swarm of Beedrilll ran back to their nest.

Safe now, Pikachu hopped onto Aiden's shoulder. "Zig, Zigzagoon!" The baby Pokémon thanked the boy, greatly relieved that the Beedrill were gone. As Aiden set him down, Zigzagoon squealed. Aiden immediately picked him back up, and saw the baby Pokémon calm right back down. It surprised Aiden, though, on the walk home, his incessive coughing didn't seem to bother the Pokémon.

"Thanks Pikachu! You're the best! I guess I'll take you home, little one. At least to get checked out." Aiden said as he and Pikachu, along with the small Pokémon. As they group walked home, Aiden admired the dark and light brown stripes which patterned down the Pokémon's body. On his face, was a dark brown stripe across his eyes, it kinda reminded Aiden of robbers he saw on cartoons.

Misty was definitely getting worried. Aiden hadn't been back and an hour was quickly slipping by. At this point, even Ash was getting a bit worried. As Misty was about to call Officer Jenny, Aiden stepped into the house as Pikachu ran and jumped on Ash's lap.

Misty was about to lecture Aiden, but when she saw the Pokémon in his arms, she was completely stun. Ash was stun too. It was really rare for a Hoenn Pokémon to be in Kanto, especially a Zigzagoon. "Dad, I found this Pokémon running from a swarm of Beedrilll. After Pikachu electrocuted them, I went to put him down and he whined and whined until I picked him back up. Do you think he's sick?" Aiden asked, concern in his face.

It was obvious Aiden didn't know the name of this Pokémon, nor it's rarity in Kanto. Ash took the small Pokémon from his son, and analyzed it. "Besides a few scratches, Zigzagoon should be fine. He's fine champ, he just likes you is all. You know that Zigzagoon as from the Hoenn Region." Ash said as Zigzagoon jumped back into Aiden's arms.

Aiden was not only surprised, but as a small smile swept across his face, Ash knew the boy was over the huge disappointment. "Really? Zigzagoon, you're a Hoenn Pokémon." Aiden hugged the small Pokémon. Zigzagoon didn't know what Aiden meant by 'Hoenn Pokémon' but he was glad he was one.

As Aiden went to bed that night, his cough went from bad to worse. Michelle, not being able to stand it, dragged her sleeping bag into Lizzie's room. Aiden, staring at the ceiling, heard the door as Zigzagoon came into the room, and jumped, trying to get to the top bunk, where Aiden lay. Aiden chuckled, and climbing back down the bunk bed with his pillow and blanket, the two fell asleep on Michelle's bed.

Aiden quickly recovered during the next few days. He was so well by Friday, he got to go to Professor Oak's for Pokémon Sciences, which the boy was ecstatic about. As for Zigzagoon, not wanting to leave, he found a happy place on Ash's team. Zigzagoon jumped at the idea. Literally, Zigzagoon jumped at the idea, into Ash's arms. Ash looked at Zigzagoon and knew he was going to be one of the strongest Pokémon a trainer, or Pokémon master could ever ask for.


	5. Chapter 5

**When Michelle gets really sick, the girl starts to have issues leading back to a best forgotten memory for Ash and Misty. **

**Michelle and Aiden - 7 years old**

**Elizabeth - 1 year old.**

* * *

"Aha, Aha, Ackhoo" Michelle sneezed as she slugged downstairs that morning. Ash's head rose to the stairs, where Michelle was. "Morning Da-choo." The girl tried to greet her father, although she wasn't succeeding. "Ugh, I am so tired of snee." She said, her tickling nose interupting her. "So tired of sne." She began to breathe heavy, trying to fight the sneeze. "tired of sneeze- achoo!"

Ash stood up and felt the girl's cheeks and forehead. "You don't have a fever. Is there anything else that hurts?" Ash asked, now not as concerned as he would be if she had a fever. Michelle thought for a minute. She wondered if she should tell her dad just how bad she felt.

"I'm really tired. I have a bad headache, my back and chest hurts and I feel a little light headed." Michelle said, although she had just scratched the surface. Just then, Ash heard something he hadn't heard for eight years, wheezing. Michelle was wheezing and coughing badly. The cough sounded really congested, almost like it was from her lungs.

This made Ash panic. He picked up the girl bridal style and took her to the couch, making sure her head was up, so she could breathe easier. He needed Misty's help. He couldn't deal with this himself. "Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he assisted Michelle, keeping her head lifted up. Although her breathing was easing, he called again. "Pikachu!"

Pikachu ran in from outside, heading straight to the living room. "Pikapi?" The electric mouse questioned. Upon seeing Michelle laying down with her head propped up by Ash's arm, he knew she was in trouble.

"Get Misty! Michelle's sick. She's having trouble breathing. Misty's probably at the gym." Ash said in a panic. As Michelle started to wheeze again, Ash lifted her head up again. "Hurry Pikachu!" With that, the small yellow mouse was out of the house, running towards the gym.

Pikachu ran in, heading straight to the battle area. Misty wasn't anywhere to be seen. Pikachu found Misty downstairs, in the aquarium. "Pikachupi!" Pikachu yelped as Misty turned to see Pikachu. "Pikachu pika chu pi pi pipikachu!" Misty immediately started to run back to the house, Pikachu behind her.

"Ash, what's wrong!? Is Michelle ok?" Misty yelped as she ran to the living room couch where Michelle was.

"I'm not sure, listen." Ash said. Misty stopped and listened to Michelle breathe. Between Michelle's coughs, her breath was hindered and wheezy. Misty gasped.

"Ash, We need some help. Before we jump the gun and call the doctor, do you know anyone else who could help us?" Misty asked taking over for Ash, holding Michelle's head up.

"Becky!" Ash said as he rushed to the videophone.

b

After the call, Ash found Misty and Michelle right where he'd left them. "So?" Misty asked as Ash got all their coats while calling Aiden, Elizabeth, and Pikachu down.

"Well, she said the wheezing and chest pain most likely from a bad cold, but because of her these things plus her medical history, we should get Dr. Neil to check. Just to be safe." Ash came over with Michelle's coat, and helped her get into it. Michelle was feeling weak now, and just couldn't muster the energy to do it herself.

As the family arrived at Dr. Neil's, Aiden and Elizabeth went to play with the toys and books. Michelle however, just sat in the chair with her eyes closed, and leaned her head against Ash's warm body. She really did look sick. Ash felt so bad for his daughter.

fortunately, it didn't take long for the nurse to call them back. The nurse was very familiar, it was Becky's mom. The woman had short brown hair and green eyes. "I didn't know you worked here Mrs. K." Misty said, just as surprised as Ash was.

"Yeah, I finally decided to get my RN, and I decided to get a job a bit farther away." Carol said before putting her stethoscope to the girl's chest. "Alright Michelle, breathe in and out slowly." Ash's grip tightened Misty arm as they all heard Michelle's wheezing.

Aiden, however, seemed the most worried. "Daddy?" Aiden whispered. Ash looked to the boy, who was balancing Elizabeth on his knee. "I don't know much about breathing, but I know that doesn't sound right."

As Carol finished the rest of the examination, she also looked worried but managed to give Ash and Misty a fake smile. "Dr. Neil will be in shortly." Carol said as she left the room. As Carol left, Misty took Ash's place, holding Michelle as Ash went back out and talked to Carol.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked. Carol seemed very hesitant to say anything. "Please Carol, this is my daughter we're talking about! I thought you out of all people would be honest with us."

Carol signed. "Ok, ok. Well, I can't know for certain until Dr. Neil checks her out. But from my assessment, it sounds like pneumonia. I'm sorry Ash." Carol said as Ash just stood, mouth hung open.

b

As Ash returned to the examination room, Dr. Neil was already there, checking Michelle's breathing more thoroughly. "Alright Michelle, give me a big breath and hold it." Dr. Neil said as Michelle followed the man's instruction. After a moment, Dr. Neil instructed her to let her breath out. Everyone in the room could hear the wheeze of Michelle's breath.

That was enough for Dr. Neil. He sat down, facing Ash and Misty. "Ok. What I want to do is get an x-ray of Michelle's chest and some labs." Dr. Neil said as Ash nodded. Misty, however, was still curious.

"What do you think it is?" Misty asked, holding Ash's hand unbearably tight.

"Outside." Dr. Neil said as he pointed to the door. When the three left the room, Dr. Neil explained. "Well, I don't know until I find out the results of the test. Although, It's either Croup or pneumonia." Dr. Neil said gently. "If it's croup, you can take her home. But if it turns out to be pneumonia, I'm going to insist she stays to get proper treatment."

"You mean, in the hospital?" Ash shuddered as he asked.

"If you two want, if we have too, I can send her to Cerulean City hospital. I usually do work here at the clinic, but I have a friend who is an amazing pulmonologist, who can take care of her there. But, you guys and I can approve any medications or tests she may need done." Dr. Neil said, in a serious voice.

"What's a pulmonologist?" Ash asked.

"That's a doctor that specializes in treatment of the lungs. But Dr. Neil, I thought you said you don't know if she'll even need care at a hospital." Misty pointed out.

"I don't. But, I'm not going to lie to you too. It really looks like it to me." Dr Neil told them. Ash and Misty gave each other a look, communicating through their eyes.

"Do whatever is best. Just help her." Ash said. Just then, they heard Michelle coughing hard. Before they could reach the door, they heard something that sounded like a gag. Misty and Ash hurried into the examination room. Aiden was holding a small bunch of tissues in one hand, handing one to Michelle as with the other hand, Aiden took the dirty tissue to throw it away.

"Aiden, don't touch that!" Misty said, running to the boy. "It's yucky." Misty took one of the clean tissues from Aiden's other hand and used it to take the dirty tissue and throw it away. "Aiden, come over here and wash your hands." Misty lifted Aiden up to reach the sink as she turned the water on.

She was surprised to see his hands covered in mucus. She looked over at Michelle, who seemed to be coughing her guts out. Ash was behind the poor girl, giving the girl small pats on the back, trying to help her breathe. As soon as Aiden was done washing his hands, Dr. Neil came in.

"Ok, we have the x-ray room open now. Let's go back." Dr. Neil said as Misty took Elizabeth as Ash followed with Michelle back to the x-ray room. After putting on the x-ray vest, Ash helped the girl lay on the cold metal table. Laying down really made Michelle cough for a minute. "Ok Ash, lay this on everything below Michelle's waist."

The long heavy blanket like material was heavy. Nevertheless, Ash followed Dr. Neil's instructions. Then Ash stood back as Dr. Neil positioned the x-ray machine. Michelle was really scared, Ash could tell. "It ok princess. This machine is just going to take a picture of your insides." Ash said.

"Like Superman?" Michelle asked, her voice shaky.

"Just like superman." Ash said chuckling.

Just then, Dr. Neil said over the speaker, "Michelle take a deep breath in and hold it...now." After a moment, he continued. "Ok. breathe. Just one more. Hold your breath. And...breathe." Michelle let out her breath and started coughing again.

* * *

Next was the worst test of all, the labs. Of course, Michelle hadn't know what "labs" were, but Ash knew. As they approached to room, Michelle finally figured it out. She started to run, only to be caught on the waist by Misty. Now Misty was a lot more scared of needles than Ash; this is why Ash was with Michelle for these tests.

When Ash finally got the girl to sit in the chair, a nurse came up and examined her arm. She soon found a spot and got the red band to tie around her arm. "Now princess, you can squeeze my hand as hard as you want while you get this test done, ok?"

"Ok, daddy." Michelle said, very frightened. Soon, the needle went in as Michelle squeezed her father's hand, holding on for pure life. Ash, who never really had expected the squeeze to be too hard, now was internally whimpering at the pain he was experiencing. Just then, Michelle's grip loosened.

No, the test wasn't over. But it seemed the anticipation of the needle had been more painful than the actual needle. After filling two small tubes, the needle was taken out Michelle was instructed the hold the small cotton ball firmly on her arm as the nurse brought out the choice of band aids. After choosing the blue band aid with a bunch of skipping Pikachu on it, Ash and Michelle went back to the examination room.

About a half an hour later, Dr. Neil came back with a bracelet. He entered the room looking solely at Michelle. "I'm sorry sweetie. You're gonna have to be admitted to the hospital." Dr. Neil said as the girl teared up. Now, being mad was usually Aiden's forte. But today, it was Michelle's turn.

"NO!" Michelle screamed at the top of her lungs. Ash took his hand and covered her mouth. As he uncovered her mouth, she was in absolute tears. "No daddy, don't let him do it. Make Pikachu shock him." She asked desperately.

Ash took the girl's hand and looked her straight in the eye. "No, I'm not gonna have Pikachu shock him. I want you to get better princess. Why are you so scared?" Ash asked, knowing there had to be a deeper reason for this.

"Ella." Michelle whispered as Ash nodded.

"But princess, Ella's all better. But, that's only because she stayed in the hospital." Ash told Michelle quietly. Michelle was still really scared, but she nodded. She knew she didn't really have a choice. And in reality, with the way she was feeling, that private bed was starting to feel better and better to her.

"Ok." She said, accepting the bracelet as Dr. Neil clipped it on her wrist. The next hours felt especially hectic for the girl. Between finding the room, checking in, seting up her little private room, and filling out the kids menu for dinner, she was beat.


	6. Chapter 6

**When Michelle gets really sick, the girl starts to have issues leading back to a best forgotten memory for Ash and Misty. **

**Michelle and Aiden - 7 years old**

**Elizabeth - 1 year old.**

* * *

**Johnny Blain is a rip off Harry Potter name I came up with. I hope you enjoy the reference. Also, 'The Dragon Festival' is a made up event I **

**created. The Festival features different Dragon Type Pokémon, including the archeology and mythology behind each one. There will be one more **

**follow up to this story, but it won't be included in the Sick Dayz story. It'll be a separate story.**

* * *

Although small, Michelle's room didn't feel cramped. Both Ash and Misty could fit in there with Michelle pretty easily. Ash, it seemed was the most upset about this. He couldn't believe he had just brushed Michelle's condition as a cold. And now, she was here. Ash buried his head in his hands.

Michelle saw her father's distress, and figured it was because of her. She sat up in her bed and put her hand on his knee, causing him to look up. "Don't worry dad. I'm sorry too." Michelle started. "I should've told you and mom how bad I felt before it got this far. I just figured it was a cold, and it would go away on it's own."

"Aw princess, don't worry. It'll be alright, I'm just worried about you." Ash said softly as he stroked through her dark crimson hair. Ash smiled at the girl, trying to reassure her. Michelle nodded, but deep inside she wasn't so sure. As she thought about this, she fell asleep.

Waking up a while later, Michelle could see the sun setting outside. Also, her parents were nowhere to be seen. She panicked for a moment. She didn't want to be here in this creepy place alone. Her panic faded as she saw Brock come in the room. He looked to see Michelle was awake. "Hey Shelly, how are you feeling?" Brock asked sitting at the end of her bed.

"I'm scared Brock." Michelle started. "I feel horrible and just want to go home. Daddy's really worried, I can tell. I'm tired of having this stupid IV in my arm, I want to be in _my _room, _my _own bed, and I want to be in _my _normal clothes!" Michelle said, looking at the dumb hospital gown she had on.

"I know. This place is no fun, is it sweetie." Brock sighed. Reaching to the chair beside, he grabbed Michelle's blue Horsea duffle bag Ash had given him. "Well, I can't take you home, but maybe we can make this place feel more like your normal bedroom."

"How?" The young girl asked her godfather as he rummaged through the bag.

"Let's redecorate." With this, Brock got out a few key items from home. "First of all, this." Brock took out the girl's Aqua knitted blanket with dark blue frills at the end. She'd had this blanket since she was born. Her grandmother, Delia had knitted it several weeks before Misty had the twins.

"My blanket!" Michelle squealed as Brock laid it across the girl. Michelle immediately took in the scent of the fabric. "Ah, smells like home."

"Next, your mom thought you might like these." He said, placing a stack of books on the side table by her bed. "Also, I found this on your bed." Bringing out her Manaphy Pokepal, Michelle looked satisfied. Brock finished setting up the room to make it feel more normal.

Hugging the stuffed Pokemon, Michelle smiled at Brock "Thank you so much Brock. It's still not home, but all this stuff makes me feel better." Michelle said as she took a book off the stack and hugging Manaphy, as she started to read.

* * *

The next day as Michelle was busy reading and studying, she heard the door creak open. Michelle set down her book she was reading. Suddenly she saw a Pokemon running towards her, Piplup. "Piplup, lup!" The blue Pokemon squeaked as he hugged the girl. Now, Michelle knew only one person with a Piplup.

Soon, she heard a voice in the hallway. "Piplup, where'd you go off to?" Coming into Michelle's hospital room, she sighed. "Piplup, you naughty boy." The young woman said. Turning her head to Michelle, she smiled. "Michelle! How are you dear?" Dawn asked as she handed the girl a present.

"Dawn, it's so good to see you!" Michelle said as she turned her head to cough into her sleeve. Wincing at the girl's congested cough, Dawn figured she shouldn't get any closer. One thing about Dawn, she hated hospitals with a vengeance. It took a lot of courage for the woman to even come into this horrid place. Although, with the renovations Brock made the day before, it wasn't quite as bad in Michelle's room.

"Well, open the present." Dawn said excited. She was always serious when it came to gifts. Tearing open the purple wrapping paper from the small box, Michelle saw the small jewelry box. Opening the small box revealed a beautiful gold necklace. On it, was a golden locket in the shape of a seashell.

Michelle was speechless for a moment. She was just so "Oh my Arceus, Dawn?" Michelle started. "It's beautiful; simply amazing. It must have been so expensive."

"Oh, don't worry about that. Did you read the back?" Michelle turned the locket over. It read, _Michelle Aimi Ketchum. _Michelle was so happy. But not jump and down happy, more like a peaceful, quiet kind of love.

"Thank you so much Dawn." The next moment, Piplup jumped off the bed and returned to Dawn. "I love you."

"I love you too sweetie. I'm sorry, but I have to go. I have a contest soon, but I wanted to stop and give you your gift." Dawn said, looking at her watch.

"Ok. Bye Dawn."

* * *

That evening, back at the Ketchum house, Aiden was busy brushing Pikachu's fur. This was one job Aiden absolutely loved. Spending time with his father's other Pokemon was one thing, but Pikachu lived with them. So, it was extra special. Pikachu loved being brushed and squeaked as Aiden went through the fir on his neck, it tickled.

The next moment, Ash came in the living room where Aiden was brushing Pikachu. "Almost done dad!" Aiden said, finishing his work. Ash smiled and nodded at the boy's work. Just as Aiden smiled at his father, Aiden felt a sharp pain in his chest. He could tell it wasn't from his body though, it was Michelle's. Springing up, he ran up to his father. "Dad, Michelle's in trouble." Just as Aiden was saying this Ash's cell phone started ringing.

Quickly snagging the phone from his back pocket, he spotted the caller ID, Dr. Neil. Ash answered it, while running upstairs for privacy. "Hello?" Ash answered.

"Ash, it Dr. Neil. My friend, Dr. Michael wants you and Misty to come to the hospital right away. He says Michelle's taken a turn for the worst." Dr. Neil informed Ash. Instantly, Ash felt his eyes burning with grief and tears.

With the last ounce of undisrupted speech he had, he replied. "We'll be there." Shooting downstairs faster than light, he ran to the kitchen where Misty was doing paperwork for the league. "Misty, we have to go now." Explaining the situation to his wife, Misty could tell he was absolutely terrified. So, the whole family, including Pikachu ran out the door and drove to the hospital.

* * *

Dropping Aiden and Elizabeth off at Cassidy's who was happy to sit on such short notice, Ash and Misty quickly headed to the Cerulean City Hospital. Both Ash and Misty feared the worst. As they arrived in the lobby, they found Dr. Neil talking to another doctor.

"Dr. Neil." Misty said in a huff, trying to catch her breath from running inside. "Is Michelle ok?" Ash hugged his wife as Dr. Neil shook his head.

"No. But God and Arceus willing, the treatment will be successful." Dr. Michael said as he turned from Neil to the couple. "By the way, I'm Dr. James Michael." Shaking the couple's hands, Dr. Michael kept talking. "It seems that Michelle has suffered from a Transdavtive Pleural Effusion in her right lung." Both Ash and Misty looked at him confused. "Meaning, there is extra fluid trapped between the lung and chest wall."

"Oh no." Misty said in terror. Misty was absolutely horrified, but not as much as Ash. The first time Michelle was in this much trouble, Ash had been polite and asked to go see her. But not this time, pushing his way past the doctors, Ash ran up five flights of stairs to the floor Michelle was on.

Out of breath as he reached the floor, he realized he could of used the elevator. Coming to Michelle's room, he gasped in absolute fear. More fear than he had even felt in his entire life. Michelle looked like an alien with all the tubes and wires coming out of her everywhere.

He came slowly into the room, silently. As if any noise could set something off. He looked upon his sleeping daughter, observing each tube and wire. He recognized the heart monitor she was hooked to, the wires connecting to her chest. She also had oxygen coming into her through a pair of nasal cannulas. Lastly, the girl had an IV in her right arm administering potent antibiotics.

Ash came and sat on the left side of the girl and took her hand. "I'm so sorry Michelle. This is all my fault, I should've been more decisive. Please don't leave me. I love you Shelly. You guys are the most important things to me." Ash said, teary eyed. "You can't..." Ash couldn't even say the word, in fear of it coming true. "Just hold on, baby girl. Our family would be broken without you."

Just then Ash felt a hand of his shoulder. He turned to see Misty, his mother standing behind her. "Ash, you're not in this alone." Misty said gently. "No one wants Michelle to leave us." Coming to her son, Delia just hugged her son. Saying nothing, just hugged him. Because she knew, that's exactly what he needed.

* * *

Ash and Misty fell asleep, with their heads on either side of Michelle's bed, with Pikachu falling asleep on the end of Michelle's bed. Suddenly, Ash felt a hand on his elbow, where he had laid his head. Slowly opening his eyes and head up, he saw Michelle, her eyes open. "Hey-Hi Daddy." Michelle uttered, her voice rough and scratchy.

His eyes instantly lit up. "Michelle!" He yelped, waking Misty and Pikachu up. "My little princess, you're ok!" Ash hugged her daughter, making her squeal a bit.

"Dad, daddy. Careful!" Michelle yelped in pain at the hug that was starting to pull the IV cord.

"Sorry sweetie." Ash said, letting her go. After checking to make sure the IV was still attached, Misty was tempted to hug her also. But learning from his husband's mistake, she just stood up, kissing the girl on the head.

"My little sea shell, you're awake." Misty was just as excited as Ash. "I've gotta tell everyone!" The woman said, leaving the room. Crawling up, avoiding the tubes and wires, Pikachu squeaked in happiness and nuzzled Michelle's cheek.

* * *

A few days later, Michelle was feeling a lot better, although the persistent cough stayed. Just then, Michelle and her parents heard a knock at the door. "Come in." Ash said as he heard the sound of an old friend

"It's recovery time!" Cilan said as Iris sweatdropped, looking embarrassed. Besides being a dragon master, Iris was also a bit of a hot-head and Cilan was trying her patience.

"I'm sorry Ash. I love Cilan, but he can be such a kid sometimes." Iris said, gripping Cilan by the ear. As Cilan yelped, Ash chuckled.

"It's ok Iris." Ash chuckled as Sage came in, along with her brothers. Aiden gravitated to the boys as they started to play. "Since Michelle's not contagious anymore, we're waiting for the discharge forms to get here." As Iris nodded, Sage gave the girl the small gift wrapped in sparkly blue wrapping paper.

"It's such a wonderful surprise to have you here. Why are you guys so far from home?" Misty asked.

"We're on our way to the Dragon Festival." Iris said as Axew came out of her hair.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot the festival was in Kanto this year." Ash said, as the recollection came to his mind. He looked at Michelle and smiled. It was nice to see her so happy, but Ash also hadn't wanted to make Iris and Cilan go out of their way for her. "You know, you guys didn't have to bring her anything." As Michelle heard this, she turned to her father and scowled lightly.

"Yes, they did. Thank you Cilan, Iris!" Michelle said as she ripped the paper open to reveal a book. Michelle let her fingers glide across the cover as the title's gold letters shined in the sunset peering in through the window. It wasn't just any book. She, Michelle Aimi Ketchum, held in her hands the 8th and final book of the Johnny Blain Series, _Johnny Blain and The Shadow Sorcerer. _To say she was happy would definitely be an understatement.

"Arceus! Cool!" Michelle shouted. At the sound of her loud cheering, Ash and Aiden looked to see what it was. Aiden shrugged. It was just a book, plus the movie was coming out in two months. Michelle was starting to get out of breath from cheering, but she couldn't help herself. It was so exciting.

"Sis, what's so cool about this?" Aiden asked. "We'll go see the movie." At this, Michelle stopped her cheering and looked at her brother angrily.

Michelle caught her breath quickly. The girl said the next thing slowly as not to overwhelm her idiotic brother's mind. "There are places and details about Johnny Blain and his friends you will NOT find in the movie." After this was said, Michelle started to cough, sounding almost like she was choking. Ash looked at the girl and saw her lips were turning blue

"Woah Michelle! Take it easy princess!" Ash said as he put the nasal cannulas back on Michelle to help her to breathe normally again. Once she settled down, she swatted the thing out of her nose. Ash knew she hated that thing, but he had to get her to breathe somehow.

Meanwhile, Sage was now in her father's grip, as Cilan looked at Ash worryingly. Luckily, Michelle soon found her own breath and her breathing settled. Sage, on the other hand, was still scared Michelle was dying or something. After a minute, Michelle looked at Sage and frowned. "Sage, I'm ok. I just got a little too excited." Michelle said as Sage slowly left the safety of her father's arms to Michelle's bed.

"I picked it out Michelle. When you and your family was at Unova for the festival last month, I saw you had the 7th Johnny Blain book. My friend Angela has the whole series so I asked her where I could find the last book." Sage said as Michelle hugged Sage gratefully.

* * *

As Misty and Ash were signing the discharge papers, Dr. Michael came up to the pair. Misty looked up at Dr. Michael as he handed her two slips, prescriptions. "The first one is an inhaler. Although Michelle is fine now, sometimes people who get pneumonia can develop asthma. The inhaler would be used in an event that Michelle would have an asthma attack. But as I checked her out today, she doesn't seem like she'll have that problem, but I'd get it just in case. Second is a very strong expectoran to help keep her breathing easy and keep any more mucus from entering her lungs. " Dr. Michael said as Ash and Misty looked at the prescription papers.

Ash thanked the man as he went to Michelle's bed and picked the sleeping girl up who'd used all her energy playing with Kokum, Sage, and Basil for the last two hours. Cilan came over silently and whispered to Misty. "We'll meet you back at the house."

**To be continued...**


End file.
